Marketing and public relations are usually discussed as separate industries. Blogs, social media posts, and digital advertisements fall into the marketing bucket. On the PR side is media outreach, including press releases and media pitches. However, the two are far more symbiotic than separate.
By following best practices, such as backing your releases with data points and employing link-building strategies, your press releases can transform into vehicles to improve your digital marketing.
At KWSM, we’re no strangers to generating buzz. Copywriters like myself ensure that best practices are followed, from link-building strategies to outreach tactics. We also use a powerful media outreach platform that provides valuable analytics, such as clickthrough and open rates, allowing us to study the data. This way, we know how to optimize future press releases for the best results.
As a seasoned copywriter, I’ve worked for both in-house teams and publications on the receiving end of press releases. I’ve witnessed firsthand the impact they can have on a company’s marketing strategy. At KWSM, I love being able to combine the outreach and marketing capabilities of press releases to get results for our clients.
Read on to learn how press releases can support your company’s marketing, from news exposure and link-building to the unification of your brand’s messaging.
How Press Releases Can Support Your Marketing
Press releases that follow best practices can complement your company’s marketing strategy in a handful of ways, specifically in the form of online exposure, link building, and unifying your brand’s messaging.
“A well-crafted press release can work wonders for your company’s marketing, offering a path to news exposure, a larger audience, and even improved SEO through link-building opportunities. Craft your release with data to back your claims, consider the day and time you send it, and include relevant keywords to heighten the chances of a journalist seeing your release while searching for noteworthy topics online.”
- Brianna Zambrano, Sr. Digital Marketing Strategist, KWSM
Here are some of the most notable ways in which press releases can support your company’s marketing:
Gain Exposure from Other Publications
Press releases primarily complement marketing by getting your news in front of as many people as possible, generating buzz about your brand on a larger scale.
This is done by submitting a press release to “the wire.” It’s then sent out to thousands of publications to eventually be reposted by interested journalists. To increase your chances of getting picked up on the wire, there are two steps you can take:
Include Data That Supports Your News or Claims
Journalists love numbers. If your press release can be supported by data or statistics, be sure to use them.
An example is a press release about an impending merger. Along with information such as the effective date, the reasons for the merger, and the products or services that will be impacted, journalists want to know the value of the deal, the size of the companies involved, and your new financial projections. Big numbers, as well as the timing of your press release, will help catch the eyes of interested outlets.
Get Your Timing Right
The timing of your press release matters. Some days and times are more conducive to higher clickthrough and open rates. Press releases tend to yield the most success when sent on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. We also suggest sending your release after the top of the hour, and staggering the times you send your release to stand out in journalist inboxes.
Build More Links to Your Website
Link-building is a key benefit to including press releases in your marketing strategy since editorial coverage can give your SEO a nice boost.
Think of link-building as the authority rating system. Search engines look at how many third-party websites are linked to yours, and signal whether websites are valuable or trustworthy based on the number of links.
In other words, linking to reputable websites will help your SEO – and the coverage you receive from sending press releases can help boost the number of qualified links to your website.
Note that press releases don’t necessarily complement SEO by themselves – it’s the coverage you receive that benefits your marketing efforts. To increase the chances of your release being cited and linked to by a larger publication, use keywords and phrases that journalists are looking for.
By including keywords in your press release, you’re allowing search engines to match it with the queries of journalists and other potential readers. This way, when they search online for news, they’ll find you through keywords and phrases.
Unify Your Brand’s Messaging
Press releases serve another useful purpose in terms of your marketing strategy: they act as inspiration for other content, such as blogs and social media posts.
In this way, press releases can refine your overall messaging. It’s where people go – both inside and outside of your company – to gather the latest news and cite data points related to your business. By polishing the messaging in your releases, you’re presenting your company in its most current form to journalists, bloggers, sales reps, and content creators in your industry.
It’s one thing to get people talking about your brand, but it’s another to get them talking about your brand in the right light. Engage your audiences with a unified, refined message so that your own marketing team and third-party creators have the most current, accurate information to report to the public eye.
Case Study: Driving Web Traffic with Press Releases
One of my clients is an employment lawyer and subject matter expert who acts as a commentator on popular SoCal news stations such as KTLA. We sent out a press release on the topic of COVID-19 and how it impacted the California employment landscape during the end of 2022. With a carefully crafted subject line, a quote backed by data, and links to the client’s website, we achieved the following results:
- 700+ visits to the client’s website and blog page
- 100+ visits to their YouTube channel
- 100+ visits to their talk show link on Spotify
- 100+ visits to their LinkedIn profile
With a single press release, we drove over 1,200 visits to this client’s website and social profiles – proving the power of well-crafted outreach.
Complement Your Marketing with a Press Release Service
DIY-ing your media outreach is never fun. It takes time, precision, and knowledge of best practices – three things business owners may not have. Rather than going it alone, entrust your PR efforts with a team of brand journalists who understand how to tell your story the way it’s meant to be told.
Elevate Your Brand’s Exposure with a Press Release Service
The writers at KWSM are dedicated to brand journalism. We’ll tell your story the right way, whether you’re announcing a new product, service, or an upcoming merger. Fill out the form below to discuss your media outreach and how we can boost your brand’s growth online.
